In Dragon Ball: A brutal beating of Frieza at the start

Page 116

The battle ended quickly. Vegeta's vicious knee strike shattered the last phantom tree shadow. The space fell silent, save for the gasps of breath.

The glowing moss beneath our feet flows and combines, outlining a giant teleportation array.

Lin Ye lowered his head, opened his scratched and bleeding palm, and felt the power within him—weak yet incredibly real and entirely his own—surging forth. He couldn't help but smile, and a hearty laugh broke out on his lips.

"Hahaha! I get it! The observer went through all that trouble just to say this? The system is just a tool! The true seed of power has always been within your own body! The sharpness you hone yourself will never betray you!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a simple, light blue screen unfolded in the field of vision:

[The system has detected a deep understanding of the true meaning of the "Origin" by the host.]

[Passive skill unlocked: Without system assistance, overall combat power permanently increases by 300%.]

[The second trial begins: Trust.]

[Teleportation countdown: 10…9…8…]

A 300% increase! Its potential far exceeds expectations!

The teleportation light surged violently, like a galaxy pouring down and engulfing the four people.

Before the light engulfed his vision, Lin Ye subconsciously looked up, piercing through the light barrier to gaze at the giant tree's trunk—this time, he saw:

Embedded throughout the massive branches were countless translucent "capsules"! Within each one floated the image of a failed host, frozen in pain and confusion. At this moment, these "capsules," as if awakened, slowly opened their eyes!

Countless gazes pierced through distance and focused on them.

There was no resentment or jealousy.

Only a liberating peace and a profound expectation remain. It speaks silently, yet also seems like a simple testimony.

The light engulfed everything.

[Trust]... What is the second trial? What do those gazes mean? Lin Ye's understanding is shrouded in a new fog.

Chapter 274: Cracks in the Chain of Trust

The cold, reflective surface stung their eyes. Lin Ye, Vegeta, Android 18, Liu Nan, and Alice, who was intently watching the holographic projection, stepped into the second trial arena—an infinite corridor composed of countless enormous mirrors. There was no end or direction, only distorted and deformed "themselves" and a chilling sight.

"Damn it! It's that trick again!" Vegeta growled. The mirror in front of him was playing an illusion of Lin Ye coldly turning around and throwing him into a destructive beam during the Cell Games. The scene was breathtakingly realistic, with every detail of Lin Ye's "weighing" expression clearly visible. Vegeta's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white, his anger reaching its peak.

"Look at this!" Liu Nan's voice was filled with panic. In the mirror, Master Roshi was fiercely rebuking the blurry figure (himself): "Liu Nan! You stole forbidden techniques! I never believed you!" The "Liu Nan" in the mirror knelt on the ground in despair. In reality, Liu Nan's face turned deathly pale as he retreated, his heart clenching like ice.

Android 18's gaze was fixed on another mirror. In the mirror, she was coldly smiling as she aimed her energy cannon at the unsuspecting Krillin and Gohan, draining their energy. The image was distorted with malice. Her lips were tightly pressed together, her eyes sharp, but a subtle wavering rippled across her gaze.

A scarlet warning popped up on Lin Ye's system panel:

[WARNING! High-intensity mental pollution field! Mirror Corridor - Rift of the Heart! Negative emotions (doubt, fear, betrayal) will be absorbed by the mirrors and materialized into attacks! A team's average trust value below 60% will trigger a chain attack of mirrored attacks! Current: 72%...71%... fluctuating...]

"Trust value?" Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he looked up sharply at Number 18. In that instant, he was shocked to see Number 18's reflection in the mirror beside him slowly raising his arm, the cold muzzle of his cannon aimed at his back! The eyes in the mirror were as cold as ice.

A chill ran through Lin Ye. He instinctively turned to look at Android 18 in reality. She was indeed raising her arm, her palm shimmering with energy, her gaze shifting between Lin Ye and Vegeta, filled with complex hesitation.

"You...are you doubting me?" Lin Ye's voice was low and trembling slightly. The system's earlier warning about "unknown signal interference" regarding No. 18's favorability rating felt like a venomous snake gnawing at his nerves. His palms were sweaty.

The moment the trust level plummeted to the critical point (59.8%), the Mirror Corridor came to life! Countless reflections in the mirrors suddenly turned around and transformed into hideous monsters—Cell's afterimage, Frieza's ice spikes, and the distorted faces of his companions—all lunging out of the mirrors with malicious smiles!

"Watch out!" Vegeta roared, his aura exploding as he punched the oncoming viscous, dark phantom of a "Saiyan warrior." His fist pierced the phantom and struck the mirror.

"Crack!" The mirror shattered. What gushed out wasn't glass shards, but a viscous, dark purple liquid reeking of decay! It coiled around Vegeta's ankle like a living thing, icy cold, bringing a mental shock—a memory buried deep within his heart: the cold, indifferent eyes of his compatriots during his exile! His ankle went numb, and the loneliness and rage nearly made him lose control. "Damn it!" Vegeta roared, golden flames scorching the slime.

On the other side, several phantoms wielding energy blades surrounded the real Lin Ye. Their movements, while bearing Lin Ye's style, were twisted with malice. Lin Ye swiftly dodged the fatal strikes, the remaining golden flames of the White God leaving trails of light. "Get out of the way!" A wave of energy blast shattered two phantoms, and more kept pouring in.

Android 18 moved like a ghost, shattering the oncoming phantoms with a barrage of shots. But her brow was furrowed, her gaze sweeping over Lin Ye and the trapped Vegeta. The energy cannon in her palm flickered. She saw the hurt in Lin Ye's eyes and the glaring warning of his trust level. The Alice System urgently announced: "Detecting a high-dimensional mental interference source! Target: Sowing discord! Recommendation: Eliminate the interference source or stabilize the core emotional node!" Interference source? Core node? Android 18's gaze locked onto the source of the fear-inducing slime spreading beneath Vegeta's feet.

"Idiot!" Android 18's cold shout rang out clearly amidst the chaos. She whirled around, ignoring the phantoms lunging at her, and unleashed a blinding white light from her concentrated energy cannon, blasting straight at—the source of the slime beneath Vegeta's feet!

boom--!

The energy beam struck the core of the shattered mirror with pinpoint accuracy. The viscous liquid churned and contracted like boiling asphalt. Vegeta's footing loosened. "Hmph!" He burst free, golden flames shooting skyward to evaporate the remaining liquid.

Number 18 flashed to Lin Ye's side, her fingers swiftly slicing across his wrist as he blocked the attack—there was a shallow scar there, left from when Cell Games shielded her from a sneak attack years ago.

"If you're even stingy with this much trust," Number 18's voice was icy, but the wavering in his eyes vanished, replaced by an angry resolve, "you might as well go back to Earth and get in the way!" A faint sense of energy lingered at his fingertips.

Lin Ye froze. The cool touch on his wrist and the unspoken message pierced through the gloom like light. His trust level jumped back to 75%! In the favorability rating column for number 18, the "abnormal interference" marker dimmed slightly.

"Liu Nan! Something's wrong!" Alice exclaimed. The holographic image showed Liu Nan trapped tightly in a golden energy turtle shell cage! The shell was covered in glaring words: "Unworthy of the Turtle Hermitage!" "Master never truly taught you!" "Traitor!" "Genius? What a joke!"

Worse still, on Liu Nan's system panel, the [Martial Arts Heart] attribute bar was rapidly turning gray and plummeting! [45%...32%...19%...17%...]

Liu Nan knelt in the cage, trembling violently with his head in his hands, his eyes empty and filled with despair. He murmured, "No... Master said... I'm a genius..." His breath was weak, and the aura of the Turtle Hermit dissipated rapidly. The surrounding mirrors greedily absorbed his despair, and the "Liu Nan" in the mirrors twisted and mocked.

"Liu Nan!" Lin Ye's heart sank. This was a sign that the weakest link in the team's trust chain was about to break! Once he collapsed, his [Martial Arts Heart] would drop to zero, he would become nourishment, and the plummeting trust value would trigger an even more terrifying chain reaction!

Without a moment's hesitation! Lin Ye took a deep breath, forcefully igniting the remaining power of the White God, all for—sound! Golden flames exploded around him, forcing back the phantoms. He concentrated his voice into a line, which pierced through Liu Nan's chaotic consciousness like thunder:

"Liu Nan! Wake up!!"

"Think of Master Roshi's House!!"

"Think about when you were caught stealing and drinking all of Master's last elixir of immortal wine!!"

"Who! Who confessed before you?!"

His voice was deep and resonant, carrying power and memories.

Liu Nan's body trembled violently in the cage! His empty eyes were pulled back slightly. He raised his hand.

In the instant I raised my hand, light and shadow danced through the gaps in the golden bars of the cage! A vivid memory surfaced:

Under the setting sun at Master Roshi's house, Xiao Liu Nan, his face flushed, stared blankly at the empty gourd of sake. Master Roshi, holding a ruler, sternly demanded, "Speak! Was it you?!" Xiao Liu Nan cried out in fear, trying to confess. Young Lin Ye stepped forward to block his way: "Master! I was greedy! Punish me!" Master Roshi "angrily" raised the ruler: "Fine! Watch me..." The ruler hovered in mid-air. He looked at the stiff-necked Lin Ye and the trembling Xiao Liu Nan, a hint of helplessness and amusement flashing in his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, the ruler smacked Lin Ye's buttocks like dust. He tossed the ruler aside and snorted, "...You two are punished...catch twenty fish tomorrow! One less and you get no food!" The scene froze on Master Roshi turning away, a smile playing on his lips, and quietly pushing the last cup of sake towards Xiao Liu Nan.

[Martial Arts Heart: 17% → 99%! 】

boom--!

An unprecedented burst of fiery green flames erupted from Liu Nan's body! It was not the blue of the Turtle Hermit School, but a completely new color that blended his own characteristics with the bond between master and disciple!

"Aaaaaah—!!!" Liu Nan roared to the sky, shattering his confusion and fear! His right fist clenched tightly, and green light condensed and compressed!

"Master taught... Senior Brother took on the responsibility..."

"Master and Disciple United? Kamehameha Wave!!!"

With a powerful thrust of both palms, a verdant shockwave, imbued with pure trust and a will to protect, roared forth like an emerald dragon! Wherever the light wave passed, distorted mirror images shattered with a mournful wail! The cage of malevolent words was torn to shreds like paper!

Rumble, rumble—! ! !

The emerald dragon of light swept through everything in its path, crashing violently into the main mirror deep within the corridor, which reflected the observer's hexagonal emblem! The main mirror shattered like brittle glass into billions of crystal dust!

Snap, snap——!

A chain reaction of collapse! A torrential downpour of mirrored rain! Space warps and crumbles!

"The corridor has collapsed! Hold on to each other!" Alice shouted urgently.

A feeling of weightlessness washed over them! Everyone plummeted with the collapsing ground! In the chaos, Lin Ye instinctively grabbed Number 18's wrist. It was cold and strong. In that instant of gripping, he noticed a hard object hidden in her palm. In the falling light and shadow, a chip with a faint blue glow was tightly clutched in her hand.

Alice System Captures Fluctuations: [Detecting residual signals from the 'trust verifier'. Target: No. 18. Function: Monitors and reports trust fluctuations of a specific object, triggering threshold alarms. Source: Alice Labs (unauthorized). The previous 'hesitation' was for data verification.]

Lin Ye suddenly understood. That hesitation in raising the cannon wasn't betrayal, but a cold test! Under the observer's forceful interference, she was verifying the bottom line of mutual trust!

"Sorry." Number 18's voice rang softly in the wind. "The interference... is too strong. We must... confirm."

"I know." Lin Ye tightened his grip on her wrist, not loosening it. He looked directly into her eyes, a smile playing on his lips. "If it were me, I'd try it too." On the system panel, the favorability rating for number 18 jumped steadily to: [100 (Soul Bound)]. A warm current dispelled the gloom. The soul bond was confirmed.

"Hmph." Number 18 snorted and turned her face away, letting him hold her wrist.

Stop falling, and get your feet firmly on the ground.

The third level of the training ground.

Beneath our feet lies a profound cosmic star map. Deep within the star map—countless luminous golden threads pierce through it, spreading upwards and weaving into a vast, three-dimensional network.

Each thread connects to a point of light, and each thread has a corresponding name.

“Gabe?” Vegeta’s sharp eyes caught sight of a distant point of light, its threads connecting closely to the point of light “Universe 7: Son Goku”! “Jiren? Hit? Beerus? Whis?” Lin Ye recognized the familiar names.

Alice's system scan: "The points of light are life signals! All warriors who have passed through the first level! All twelve universes! This network is the root of the Tree of Origin! The observer... is using the elites of the multiverse as experimental subjects!"

A chill followed by a powerful resonance. They are not alone!

“Heh,” Vegeta crossed his arms, a cold smirk playing on his lips, “It seems even the high and mighty observers didn’t anticipate that the experimental subjects… also understand mutual trust?” He glanced at Lin Ye 18’s tightly clenched wrist and Liu Nan’s resolute gaze.

The observer's emotionless voice resounded with displeasure:

"Useless connections. Naïve emotions."

"The third layer: 'sacrifice'."

"Rules: The energy core is the only way to the lower level, and the channel must be kept stable to maintain the energy flow."

“Among you, one person must volunteer to stay as a ‘stabilizer,’ using his own abilities (life) as the fuel to keep things running until the gates are opened. The rest may enter.”

"Refuse or make no sacrifice, everyone stop, for nourishment."

"Choose. Let me see if your fragile 'trust' can bear the weight of 'sacrifice'."

As the sound faded, the star map beneath their feet shattered! A bottomless abyss appeared! At the bottom of the abyss, a dark red energy core, pulsating like a giant heart and radiating terrifyingly high temperatures and suction, was clearly visible! Around the core, countless twisted, painful, and silently wailing transparent energy bodies were entangled and sucked in by black tendrils—the remnants of countless defeated beings! Despair, pain, and resentment surged forth like a tidal wave!

A mandatory health warning pops up on each player's system panel:

[Sacrifice mechanism activated! Those who voluntarily remain leap into the abyss and touch the core! Assimilation is irreversible! The sacrificed will be completely absorbed and become energy! Their soul imprint will be forever annihilated!]

The air froze. A cold shackle.

Alice's calm voice broke the deathly silence.

"I stayed."

She took a step forward, her chestnut hair billowing in the scorching wind from the nuclear radiation, partially obscuring her face. She adjusted her glasses.

"My technology system is the optimal, stable solution. It can buy time." Her voice was cold and analytical as she activated a holographic projection, a scarlet countdown ticking. "After activation, the system will be overloaded and stabilized; enough time." She paused. "My backups in various parallel universes... have been secretly transmitted. Hidden in..." She looked at Lin Ye, "in the deepest secret area of ​​your system's database. You know the key."

"Bullshit!" Lin Ye roared, stepping forward and grabbing Alice's wrist. "What backup optimal solution!" He stared intently into her eyes. The instant he grabbed her wrist, Lin Ye sensed micro-energy patterns flowing beneath the skin of her palm! It was Liu Nan's spatial teleportation talisman! A backup plan!

"Don't think I don't know!" Lin Ye's voice was hoarse as he forcefully pinched her heart-shaped finger. "We agreed! To die together! To eat ice cream out of business! Have you forgotten?!"

Alice trembled slightly. Her calm mask finally cracked. She looked up, and behind the mirror, her eyes reflected Lin Ye's anxious face and the throbbing, greedy red core beneath his eyes.

Time freezes in a second.

Alice suddenly tiptoed! She rushed to Lin Ye's side, but he didn't respond. A cool, soft touch, carrying a resolute air, lightly pressed against Lin Ye's cheek.

"Remember... it has strawberry flavor."